Not Worth It
by Ciamil B
Summary: When you've spent a big part of your life training to be a Ninja, it's hard when you find out that being one isn't like you imagined. Naruto realizes this and speaks to his two teammates about it. The result? Konoha losing three Ninjas. Team 7 fic.


**Not Worth It**

By: Ciamil B.

Summary: What if you worked hard for something your whole life, but then found out that it just wasn't like you imagined? What if you wanted to do something so badly, you forgot what the reason for doing it was? What if you had a dream you wanted to fulfill, but realized that it wasn't what you really want? Would everything you've done, still be worth it?

"Do you ever feel like everything we've worked for so far is for nothing?" Naruto asked Sakura and Sasuke one day, while they were at the bridge. It was a rare moment of seriousness from Naruto. Sakura and Sasuke didn't say anything.

"All we do are D-missions. We've trained so hard to become Genins… do you think it was worth it?"

Sakura sighed. She didn't. Honestly, she was hoping that it'd be more interesting. Her family... they didn't want her to become a ninja. They said it would be dangerous. She didn't listen to them, deciding that a Kunoichi was what she wanted to be. Sadly, right now it seemed like her choice was a bad one. There really was nothing to do. All that studying she did was for nothing.

"It doesn't matter if it's worth it or not. What's done is done, Naruto." Sakura replied to him, feeling a little tired. Today was surely another boring day, with another D-rank mission.

"We are Genin, baka," Sasuke said, "Genin are meant to do this type of thing."

"But…" Naruto fell silent as Kakashi appeared. Their quiet, reflective time was over.

"You're late!!" Sakura and Naruto both yelled, or, in Sakura's case, yelled, at Kakashi.

"I was saving a girl, who was also coincidentally the daughter of a nearby store owner. She was drowning in the lake, and I went to save her. He thought I was doing something inappropriate to her, so he grabbed me, after I had saved his daughter, and dragged me before the Hokage. The Hokage, in order to appease him, ordered me to help him clean his store. That's why I'm late."

"You liar!!" They yelled again, minus Sasuke, who was sitting there quietly, most likely still contemplating what Naruto had asked them.

"I'm not lying!" Kakashi said, looking offended. All three of the Genins knew that he wasn't, because he lied every time he was late, and he knew it himself

'_This is the man, who is going to teach us everything we are supposed to know.'_

The thought ran through Sakura's head. Kakashi was not the best teacher… He hadn't really taught them anything for the past weeks that they'd been in his tutelage, only tree-walking. She had learned more in school in a day, than she had learned with Kakashi in a week. All they took was a bell test, and then D-ranked missions…

'_**Do you think it was worth it?'**_

'_No Naruto, I don't really think I do.'_

--

"_**Do you ever feel like everything we've worked for so far is for nothing?"**_

"_**All we do are D-missions. We've trained so hard to become Genins… do you think it was worth it?" **_

Sasuke sighed, staring at the blank, white wall in front of him. Naruto had been right. It had been yet another D-ranked mission…

He became a ninja… why? Because his parents wanted him to, and it was expected of him. Since Itachi had defied them, they decided to switch all their hopes and dreams onto Sasuke. They had wanted Sasuke to surpass, and never become like, his brother Itachi.

So where was he now? He was a Genin, with no parents. His brother, the only who had ever appreciated and cared for him, was the one that killed their whole entire clan. After that, he ran away to become a missing-nin, and Sasuke was left alone without anyone there for him when he needed someone. Teachers in the academy had told him that their teammates, when they got Genin teams, were their family and comrades. Sakura and Naruto were his family and comrades now, apparently. In one week, people who knew them well couldn't say that they hadn't made an impact on each other's lives.

Sakura went over to both his and Naruto's houses to wake them up for team meetings on their bridge (yes, their bridge. They were there practically 24/7, so it was called the Team Seven Bridge by the other villagers). Sakura's giggling remarks about he should walk her home turned into a comrade's request for him to walk her home in order so that she would safely reach home. He requests were all minus the love intent now. Naruto's idiotic remarks helped distract him from his monotonous life, and his enthusiasm helped the whole team brighten up.

'_What was I thinking, chasing my brother like that for the past 5 years? Where was my 'me time'? Come to think about it, I don't think I've been doing anything 'fun' lately…' _

Even if he didn't like it at first, Sakura and Naruto would be his teammates forever and ever, at least, until one of them died. In the beginning, he told himself that he didn't want to kill them because he had to save his energy. And, if he did kill them, he'd probably be either exiled from Konoha (which was not really likely because he was the last Uchiha 'loyal' to Konoha), or confined in his house, under the watch of ANBU or other power Ninjas. How would he be able to learn powerful techniques to kill his brother if he killed his teammates and reaped what he sowed?

But, now, he just didn't want to kill them. It wouldn't do him any good, anyways. Before, he thought that they would slow him down, but Sakura's smarts and Naruto's enthusiasm and comedic relief both helped him more than they slowed him down.

'_Why did I become a ninja? Because I wanted to kill Itachi. Why do I want to kill Itachi? Because he killed our whole clan. Why do I care if he killed our whole clan? Because I'm all alone now.'_

'_But… I have Naruto and Sakura now. I'm not alone anymore…'_

'_Do I still want to get revenge on Itachi for killing our whole clan? …No, not if I have Naruto and Sakura…'_

'_Then what's the use of becoming a ninja? … To protect those those are alive, that I still hold dear to me.'_

"_**Do you ever feel like everything we've worked for so far is for nothing?"**_

"_**All we do are D-missions. We've trained so hard to become Genins… do you think it was worth it?" **_

Sasuke thought that it was worth it. Only if Sakura and Naruto were there, though.

--

'_**Do you think it was worth it?'**_

Naruto's words repeated again and again in her head. Did she think that all the studying she had done was worth it?

No… she wasn't. She had studied so hard back in the academy, learning every Shinobi law, and everything that a Ninja was supposed to know. She wasn't using any of that knowledge at all with Kakashi. Kakashi didn't even seem to want them to become better Ninjas, he didn't teach them anything.

Sakura sighed.

It was her that wanted to become a Ninja. She wasn't forced into it, or anything else. It was her that wanted to become a Ninja. Her family protested and said that a girl like her should just stick to flower arranging, and being pretty, but Sakura hadn't wanted to become like that back then. Her reason for becoming a Ninja was exactly the same as all the other girls that had wanted to become a Ninja.

To get closer to Uchiha Sasuke.

She studied hard and long, trying to become the perfect Kunoichi, and in the end, she did get what she wanted. She was put on a team with Uchiha Sasuke, but it wasn't like she and the other girls had always imagined. Sasuke didn't magically fall in love with her and treat her like a princess, no; Sasuke treated her like she was a useless person at first. And she guessed that she was.

She wasn't particularly powerful, just smart. How could smartness help, when no strength was present?

'_**Do you think it was worth it?'**_

She thought that once she had a Genin team, maybe she would get stronger. After all, one teacher teaching three students was more effective than one teacher teaching over twenty students, right?

Wrong.

She wasn't learning anything, Kakashi was constantly late, and she was constantly being saved by Sasuke, and Naruto. During the C-ranked mission that they had been given, she couldn't do anything at all except for be a nuisance.

Was all that hard work studying, worth what she was now? How could she continue in such a way? Obviously, Kakashi wasn't going to teach them anything anymore, and how could anyone expect children to be able to teach other children? She wasn't getting stronger, and Sasuke didn't care for her in the way that she wanted him to. Naruto, Sasuke, and her were more like… friends. The way teammates were supposed to be.

She became a Ninja to win Sasuke's love, but Sasuke didn't love her. Sasuke was nice to her enough, like a friend, but not a boyfriend. She wasn't a good Ninja, and probably could never be if she stayed under Kakashi's watch.

Her goal from the beginning was to get close to Sasuke. She was close, just not in a boyfriend-girlfriend way. But, the way she was now with Sasuke was good enough for her.

'_**Do you think it was worth it?'**_

She had people who cared about her now, other than her family. Her peers at the academy all thought she was weird for studying so hard, while they

'_Naruto… I think it was worth it, because now I have Sasuke, and you, as my friends.'_

--

'**Mission accomplished. Eh, kit?' **

"Shut up, Kyuubi."

--

A/N: Was it alright? Please review and tell me!


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